Visit Our Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story Activity Corner!We have lots of fun things to do in our Katie & Kimble Activity Corner!
You will find the Katie & Kimble Activity Corner on the right sidebar of the Katie & Kimble blog.
Send Katie & Kimble e-cards
to your friends and family. It's totally free, with no ads and no
pop-ups. And we don't take your email address, either. And
you can add a song to your e-card, too! I even
added "Happy Birthday" and "Graceful Ghost!"
Try asking the author (that's me, Linda Thieman) a question. Did you read Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story? What did you think? Let me know. You can click here to ask me a question. Then click on "Post a Comment."
You can also download free Katie & Kimble coloring pages! Just click here
and the coloring pages will open into a PDF file in Acrobat Reader for
you. You can print out the coloring pages and color away!
There
are many more things to do in the Katie & Kimble Activity
Corner. Just look over on the right sidebar and you'll see them!
[Reading Level 3, 280L, for ages 7-10] Nine-year-old Katie Russell and her family look
normal. But the Russells don't know they are living with Kimble,
the ghost of a ten-year-old girl. That is, until Katie discovers Kimble
and the two of them set off on a quest to find out what happened to
Kimble's mother.
Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story - Did You Know Kimble's Dress is Real? I wrote Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story (a chapter book for ages 7-10, 280L) in May, 1994. At that time, I knew Kimble would be wearing a dress from the fall of 1918.
It took me years to find a pattern for Kimble's dress. I looked and looked. Then,
three years ago I finally contacted Mrs. Penny Ladnier over at CostumeGallery.com to see if she had any books or catalogs from 1918.
In Kimble's day, most girls did not go to the store and buy clothes.
They bought patterns and cloth. Then they made their dresses at
home! They would put the pattern on top of the cloth and then cut
out the pieces of the dress. Then they would sew the pieces together.
When I contacted Mrs. Ladnier, I was truly surpised. Mrs. Ladnier
had just won an auction for a pattern book from the fall of 1918!
And what was even more amazing was the auction was over in
France!
So we waited and waited for the book to arrive. Once Mrs. Ladnier
received the pattern book for children's dresses, she faxed me the
different dresses that were for a girl Kimble's age. Then I chose
one I liked.
Later, the illustrator for Katie & Kimble, Mrs. Kim Tharp, helped
me design the back of the dress. We could guess at the back
pretty well because we could see the front and the side of the dress.
Mrs. Tharp also painted in a plaid pattern for the cloth of the dress. Plaid was very popular that year.
So, that means that Kimble's dress is REAL and that real girls wore
that dress in 1918. They also wore big red bows in their hair,
just like Kimble. And we took Kimble's hairstyle and her dress
boots from the pattern book, too!
Just thought you might like to know!
Fun Katie & Kimble Hint: On the sidebars, click on the yellow stripes for a little surprise or two!
Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story(Book 1 in the series) and Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish (Book 2 in the series) are available here:
[Reading Level 3, 280L, for ages 7-10] Nine-year-old Katie Russell and her family look
normal. But the Russells don't know they are living with Kimble,
the ghost of a ten-year-old girl. That is, until Katie discovers Kimble
and the two of them set off on a quest to find out what happened to
Kimble's mother.
Katie & Kimble Kids' Corner: Katrina, 8, speaks her mind! Today, I'd like to introduce our first guest blogger here at Katie & Kimble Kids' Corner. Her name is Katrina, she's from Virginia, and she's 8!
Katie
& Kimble is a very honest book with a lot of friendship and truth.
I thought it was a really great book, one of my top favorites. It was a
very sweet, loving book. There are some parts that I wasn’t expecting,
but I liked the whole thing. I think it would be cool to meet a ghost
like Kimble and to live in that type of house. Katie didn’t really have
any friends and I think Kimble made a smart choice of showing her
feelings so Katie would like her.
I wish that I had a friend like Katie or Kimble or even both. I think
Katie & Kimble is a book I would enjoy reading again and I look
forward to reading more about Katie and Kimble’s adventures. I also
liked the pictures in the book. I think Mrs. Russell made a smart
choice about trusting that Kimble was real and I was surprised that she
believed in the end.
I [was] 8 on April 8, 2008. I am homeschooled. I like playing piano.
And I recently built a volcano for my first science fair and I received
a really good score for it. (See some pictures here!) I like to make people happy and to make new friends.
Thank you, Katrina! I appreciate your sending in your post! Well done!
Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish (Book 2) Gets Great Review! The results are in from the Writer's Digest 16th Annual Self-published Book Awards, and I am pleased to announce that Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish,
Book
2 in the Katie & Kimble series, has received a great review!
Here's what the contest judge said:
"I haven't read the other Katie & Kimble book, but after
visiting the author's website to see what it's all about, I'm sure it
is a favorite. Ms. Thieman has developed a site that young people are
sure to enjoy.
Books like this, well-written with a good plot, well-presented and
illustrated, are a pleasure to read. I liked the characters and the
open-mindedness of the parents in accepting Kimble into their family. I
think it's a delightful theme to a story.
Written with a nice flow. A good bedtime story book, easy for
young people to read, too. I also like the coupon idea! The author can
be congratulated on doing a splendid job."
Thank you, thank you very much! LOL Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish (290L) picks up where Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story
left off. Katie's dad, Mr. Russell, still doesn't know about Kimble.
But he's going to find out soon! What will the girls tell him? And
how will they tell him? "Hi, Daddy, this is my friend, Kimble. She's
a ghost!" That doesn't really work too well, if you know what I mean. How will Mr. Russell react?
And what will the girls WISH for when they find a coupon for a magic wish?
Fun Katie & Kimble Hint: On the sidebars, click on the yellow stripes for a little surprise or two!
Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story(Book 1 in the series) and Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish (Book 2 in the series) are available here:
[Reading Level 3, 280L, for ages 7-10] Nine-year-old Katie Russell and her family look
normal. But the Russells don't know they are living with Kimble,
the ghost of a ten-year-old girl. That is, until Katie discovers Kimble
and the two of them set off on a quest to find out what happened to
Kimble's mother.
Another fun thing to do is read stories about the author of Katie
& Kimble -- that's me! These are true stories. One is
from when I was 7 and it's a funny story about my dog. One is from when I was 8 and it's about my dad and a funny trick we played with a piano! The third one is from when I was 9 and we lived across the street from a baseball player. That was a lot of fun!
[Reading Level 3, 280L, for ages 7-10] Nine-year-old Katie Russell and her family look
normal. But the Russells don't know they are living with Kimble,
the ghost of a ten-year-old girl. That is, until Katie discovers Kimble
and the two of them set off on a quest to find out what happened to
Kimble's mother.
Follow the Virtual Book Tour for Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story in January! Join Linda Thieman, author of the children's chapter book, Katie and Kimble: A Ghost Story, as she virtually tours the blogosphere in January on her first virtual book tour.
KATIE AND KIMBLE VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR '09 officially began on January 1 and will end on January 30. You can find a list of Linda's blog stops here to see where she's going to appear every day.
As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comment on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available.
tjadens said... I first read chapters of Katie and Kimble to see if it would be a good book for my daughter. I found it to be not only totally appropriate for her but that it was a good read for me, too! I really appreciate how Thieman weaves ideas that I want to talk to my daughter about but don't always find that right teachable moment to do so. The Dreidel, mom's death, ghosts, friendship and Twinkle all provided my daughter and I themes for talking about what is important in life. And since they were all wrapped around an engaging adventure it was fun, too! (My daughter has read more chapters than I, but she keeps me up-to-date with the escapade. Thank you, Linda!) January 7, 2009 8:53 AM
Prairie Cat said... At our house, we thoroughly enjoyed Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story. I found it to be a delightfully charming story, not scary at all. I can see the benefit that some of you talked about as far as using the book to talk about death and dying with your child. The nice thing about Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story is that this book's light and happy tone gives it a "Casper the friendly ghost" quality and is great just for pure fun! January 7, 2009 9:47 AM
Bizaleth said... My daughter and I read the first book together! We loved it! My daughter kept asking for "just one more chapter" and most of the time she got it because I was as interested as she was! I also read it to my third grade class. The most agreed upon comment with my class was that the author wrote in such a way that they could #1, identify with Katie and #2, they kept having to remind themselves that Kimble was a "ghost." In the summaries that my class wrote, all of them talked about the friendship between Katie and Kimble, which is just what we want to foster in third graders: positive friendships! Katie's big dog and little brother always got a lot of laughs when I read it to the whole class! My daughter is waiting rather impatiently for book number 3!!!! Hurry up Ms. Thieman! January 7, 2009 6:29 PM
krystal said... As a Mom of 3, I’ve read a lot of books at various reading levels. I was very impressed by the Katie and Kimble series. My kids and I read both “A Ghost Story” and “The Magic Wish”. We loved them both. They have appeal for children under 7, yet enough depth to hold mine and my 14 year old’s interest to the end. They are not just for girls either! My 13 year old son enjoyed them just as well. The fact that they have educational value, nurture family values and instill a sense of social consciousness is an added bonus often lacking in books at this most impressionable reading level. Thanks Ms Thieman for wrapping it all up into such a pleasurable package! We look forward to additional books in this series and will be excited to learn and grow together with Katie and Kimble! January 8, 2009 3:06 PM
Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story(Book 1 in the series) and Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish (Book 2 in the series) are available here:
[Reading Level 3, 280L, for ages 7-10] Nine-year-old Katie Russell and her family look
normal. But the Russells don't know they are living with Kimble,
the ghost of a ten-year-old girl. That is, until Katie discovers Kimble
and the two of them set off on a quest to find out what happened to
Kimble's mother.
We have lots of fun things to do in our Katie & Kimble Activity Corner!
The results are in from the Writer's Digest 16th Annual Self-published Book Awards, and I am pleased to announce that 
